1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting the position of a carrier that carries a textile bobbin or cop, in the region of a work station of an automatic textile machine that has a number of work stations, wherein each work station has its own work station electronics which control the progress of work done at that work station.
In automatic textile machines, such as twisting machines, bobbin winders, etc., it is known for each work station to have its own work station electronics, which control or monitor all of the operations carried out at the applicable work station.
In order to control and monitor transport operations, such as the delivery of bobbins disposed on carriers, a common control unit belonging to the machine itself is provided. Such devices, which are described, for instance, in German Patent DE 36 03 002 C, have a number of sensor devices disposed in the region of a bobbin transport path, which are all connected to the central control unit. On one hand, such a structure requires a relatively powerful and therefore expensive computer, and on the other hand, the expense for connecting the sensor devices to the central control unit in such a way that they function properly is not inconsiderable.
In a combined spinning and bobbin winding machine, it is also known for the cops made in a spinning machine to be placed on cop carriers and delivered to the bobbin winder over a transport system equipped with revolving conveyor belts. Within the bobbin winder, the cop carriers are then distributed to the various winding stations successively through shunts or the like equipped with sensor devices, and the cops are rewound onto cross-wound bobbins or cheeses. For the sake of problem-free operation at the winding stations, it is desirable for at least one reserve cop to be kept in a waiting position at the individual winding stations at all times.
An initiator for actuating the cop carrier, which is connected to the central control unit of the spinning machine and is located in the region of the waiting position, prevents the yarn joining device from making unnecessary attempts at piecing up the yarn if the reserve cop is absent.
It is also known, in a combination of a plurality of spinning and bobbin winding machines, to process different batches of yarn. The various yarn batches are, for instance, identified by codes on the tubes or cop carriers, as is described in German Published, Non-Prosecuted Application DE 37 32 367 A1.
German Published, Non-Prosecuted Application DE 40 38 970 A1 relates to a similar configuration. Electronically eraseable read/write memories in the form of chips for storing the applicable yarn data are disposed on the tubes or cop carriers, and through the use of special read/write devices, which have a serial oscillating circuit, the memory chips are variably encodable, so that all of the necessary yarn data can be read by reading devices disposed downstream. The transmitting and receiving devices of such coding and decoding devices are likewise connected to the control unit belonging to the machine itself.
German Published, Non-Prosecuted Application DE 42 31 059 A1, relates to an apparatus in which a chip that has an electronic circuit with integrated frequency dividers is disposed on the cop carriers or tubes. The division ratio of these frequency dividers is specified to be different from batch to batch.
Through the use of a transceiver that broadcasts or transmits an electromagnetic oscillation at a fixed frequency, reliable recognition of the various batches is possible, because the oscillations received by feedback from the cop carriers or tubes differ markedly in their modulation frequency from the fed-back oscillations of other batches. In that transceiver as well, generating the oscillation of the carrier frequency is performed through a serial oscillating circuit, which is powered by a frequency generator through a driver. Evaluation of the received signals is carried out through the central machine computer.